Madrid derby fallout: Real Madrid rocked as Mbappe questioned

Atletico Madrid beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the Madrid derby at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Sunday, a damaging result that leaves Jose Mourinho’s side fourth in LaLiga and six points adrift of the leaders Barcelona. Real Madrid have also confirmed that Federico Valverde sustained a severe trauma to his left ankle during the defeat, an injury that casts doubt over his involvement with Uruguay during the international break.

The club released a statement after tests on the midfielder. “Following the tests carried out today on our player Fede Valverde by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with a severe trauma to his left ankle, sustained during this afternoon’s match. Valverde will undergo further tests in the coming hours,” it read. Valverde was hurt in a challenge from Atletico’s Lee Kang-in and, remarkably, was able to complete the match. Uruguay, coached by Diego Forlan, face Japan and South Korea in friendlies before the end of the month, and it would now be a surprise if he was involved. Real Madrid expect him to be available for the visit of Villarreal on October 10.

The goals that settled the derby came from Alejandro Grimaldo and Jonathan David, with Antonio Rudiger’s late header no more than a consolation for Los Blancos. Dean Huijsen was sent off early in the second half after he dragged down Giuliano Simeone inside the area, and Grimaldo converted the penalty to break the deadlock. David made it two soon afterwards, turning in a low cross from six yards, and the Metropolitano erupted. Real Madrid did not touch the ball in Atletico’s box at any point in the second half until Rudiger scored in the 89th minute.

Heavy scrutiny also fell on Kylian Mbappe, who played the full 90 minutes and cut an isolated figure in the final third. According to the match data, he generated 0.02 Expected Goals and 0.01 Expected Assists, had his only shot blocked, won five of his 10 ground duels and lost possession 15 times. He completed three successful dribbles, though to little effect.

Mbappe had arrived in scintillating form, having scored four goals and set up two more in his previous three appearances in all competitions, which made the flatness of his afternoon all the more jarring. The Spanish media were unforgiving. Eldesmarque gave him 3/10, calling him “absent” while accepting that he was “unsupported”. Mundo Deportivo felt he “fought” and “tried” but described his display as “dry”. AS wrote that he was “completely isolated” in the final third. Madrid Fan went further, awarding him 2/10 and branding him “completely invisible”, a rating that will do him no favours in the Ballon d’Or debate. Managing Madrid were kinder at 5/10, highlighting a couple of “promising bursts”. It was only the third game this season in which Mbappe has failed to score or assist, after the 1-0 loss to Real Betis on September 4 and the 2-1 win over Espanyol.

Mourinho, as ever, had plenty to say about the officiating. He turned up to his press conference holding images of the two challenges he believed should have brought red cards, for Lee Kang-in on Valverde and Cristian Romero on Jude Bellingham. “The story of the game is here,” he said. “They’re two clear red cards.” He went on to question the appointment of the referee. “It’s the CTA [the referee’s committee]. It’s all been very strange. It’s a referee [Ortiz Arias] who, at 41, doesn’t have international experience. I don’t know why he was the referee. The poor guy came here and couldn’t cope with the pressure.”

He was just as forthright about the title race, insisting that Real Madrid can still finish top if the decisions even themselves out. “Obviously, we want to be in first place, and we don’t want to be in second, third, or fourth,” he said. “If they leave us alone, in peace, and let us compete on equal terms with everyone, there’s still a long way to go.” Mourinho also said he had liked his team “as a team”, praising their “pride” and “determination” despite the negative result on a day when little else went his way.

Atletico were in no mood to let the complaints pass. Twenty-four hours after the win, the club’s social media channels published a blunt message reading “Stop referee harassment now”, complete with a printer producing the same images Mourinho had held up in front of the cameras. Marca reported that those inside the Metropolitano consider the protests disproportionate and believe Real Madrid are hardly the club best placed to complain about officiating, recalling incidents in previous derbies that went against them. Simeone had already made the point in his own manner, observing that no matter whether your name is Mourinho, Simeone or Flick, not everything goes.

For Atletico, the afternoon had a very different feel. Diego Simeone said it had been a special week in Madrid, describing a “tremendous energy about the city” after taking in the Formula One and a Shakira concert, and he enjoyed this most of all. Jan Oblak summed up the mood in the dressing room. “A lot has happened in Madrid this week but this was the only thing that mattered in his mind and mine,” the goalkeeper said. It is 13 years since these two managers met in this fixture, the night Atletico won the Copa del Rey at the Bernabeu and Mourinho was sent off, and he had spoken beforehand of Simeone as a “companion of war”.

Real Madrid will look to respond when they host Villarreal at the Bernabeu on October 10, while Mbappe joins Zinedine Zidane’s France squad for their Nations League campaign. Mourinho’s side have now lost twice in LaLiga this season, and the gap to Barcelona already feels a sizeable one to close.